The hallways at C.J. Hooker Middle School are buzzing with pride as we celebrate a historic milestone. 8th-grade artists Evan Romulo and Cecilia Boesch have been awarded National Gold Medals in the 2026 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
After an initial regional sweep where they placed in the top 2% of local talent, Evan and Cecilia moved on to face staggering national competition. Out of nearly 340,000 submissions, their work was selected by industry titans for its rare combination of technical mastery and a distinct personal voice.
Evan and Cecilia’s work was selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Fewer than 2,500 works received a National Medal, which places them within the top 8% of all submissions!
Since 1923, the Awards have celebrated teen artists and writers from across the country. Cecilia and Evan are now part of that legacy, joining the ranks of notable alumni, including Tschabalala Self, Stephen King, Kay WalkingStick, Charles White, Joyce Carol Oates, and Andy Warhol, and filmmakers Lena Dunham and Ken Burns—all of whom won Scholastic Awards when they were teens.
As National Medalists, Scholastic is publishing Evan and Cecilia’s work in their Online Galleries at artandwriting.org in June as well as presenting them with Gold medals at the Scholastic National ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 10, 2026 for their spectacular achievement. Theirnames will also be listed in the 2026 Yearbook, a companion publication to The Best Teen Art and The Best Teen Writing anthologies
“As Cecilia’s and Evan’s teacher I am extremely proud and honored to have such talent in my class. Their hard work, dedication and personal voice has led them to receive such an outstanding accolade. It is a spectacular achievement for everyone and I hope to continue helping more students develop their artistic skills and achieve similar achievements in the future. Thank you to the district for this amazing opportunity. Let’s Go Goshen!” – Mrs. Brown, CJH Art Teacher
